Idiopathic
by french-charlotte
Summary: Prequel. Attacks on Corneria aren't unheard of. However, what happens when the attack is an invisible force that not even James McCloud can stop? father/son based.
1. Chapter 1

**This story takes place before my other story, "The Past Story". You don't have to have read it to understand it but if you do like this story, then I suggest that one. **

**I dedicate this story to my loving fiance who gave me inspiration to write another story. I want to thank Silencedfox86 who has helped me greatly with insipiration from his story and pushed me to keep writing. He has a great story that I suggest everyone to read. **

**As always, I own nothing of Star Fox. **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

The scraping of a pencil against paper and the low hum of a fan were the only audible sounds in the small dorm room. The unusually hot fall afternoon had made the four teenage inhabitants miserable, close to the point of madness. The windows pulled open to the fullest extent that their frames would allow, the outside offered no mercy, but instead carried spurts of wind full of hot air. A single desk fan, the room's only savior, moved to and fro in its routine pattern. The members of the particular room weren't the only one's suffering; all the occupants in the building were experiencing the same unbearable heat wave.

"This is ridiculous," Falco replied, sitting on his bed, doning shorts and white tank top. "How much do we pay for this academy?"

Laying barren in bed, the blankets long forgotten in a heap on the floor, Bill wiped the sweat off his brow. "Too much, if you ask me. Some decent ventilation wouldn't hurt."

Lifting his head momentarily to get a look at his friends, Fox sighed out of defeat. Laying shirtless on his bed in the same fashion as Bill, the young vulpine was getting tired of listening to the banter of his friends. "They didn't expect it to get hot again so they turned off the air conditioning. Bitching about it won't do anything."

With a shake of his head and a disgruntled noise, Falco glared at Fox. "And what do you want me to do, Foxie boy? Write to my congressman?"

Slippy, with a puff of air from his lips, decided to lay his pencil down to enter the conversation. "I'd be surprised that you knew who that was."

Surprised at Slippy's comeback, Fox turned his head and lifted an eyebrow. On any other day, Fox would have pursued the threatening fight with Falco. However, with the intensity of the heat, the young McCloud just couldn't seem to gather the strength to care. Instead, he directed his attention at Slippy. "You still doing homework, Slip?"

The green toad, picking up his forgotten pencil, turned his face towards the open text book and papers, calculator in his other hand. "Yeah. I would like to get this assignment done before tomorrow. Have you started on yours Fox?"

Putting a paw to his face to wipe the sweat away, the vulpine shook his head. "Nope. And it's not due for another week so I'm not doing it now. I'll start it next week."

"The beginning of the year and the instructors are already giving us hell," Bill replied, sitting up in his bed.

"Hey," Falco began, sending Bill a pointed look. "At least you don't have to take Strength of Materials again. I still fail to see how that will _ever_ help me later in life."

Slippy turned around towards Falco, a scowl on his face. "Well Falco, if you ever-"

Falco interrupted by putting up his hand in the air. "Save it Slip. I don't give a rat's ass."

Not happy with the attitude Falco was displaying, the toad shook his head and turned dutifully back to his homework. It was the beginning of the school year at the Cornerian Military Academy, making everyone's moods worse for wear. Adding to the stress of school, the scorching hot weather created a fatal mix that worsened the ambiance of the room. Complaint after complaint, the academy administration refused to turn the air conditioning back on as the heat was unusual and would subside after a while. Until then, the miserable cadets would have to find other means to cool themselves off, most of which consisted of showers and fans.

"Where're the girls?" Bill asked curiously from his sitting position on his bed.

"Probably home," Falco began, not moving from his spot. "Fara's got a pool at her house."

"And why the hell are we not there?" Bill replied, brows knit together.

"According to Katt, it's a 'girls only' time," Falco allowed a puff of air through his lips. "Unbelievable. I have a waterfall of sweat running down my ass and they decide to have girl time."

Fox, with a surge of energy running through is body, jumped up from his bed to grab his shirt. This grabbed the other's attention, all looking at him in surprise. Fox gave them all a glance. "Screw this," the fifteen year old began. "My arwing has air conditioning. I'm going flying."

Feeling a grin cross his face, Bill stood up as well and began getting dressed. "Awesome idea, Fox. I think I'll join you."

"Where are you guys flying to?" Falco asked, trying to hide his interest from his friends. "I mean, if it's somewhere cool, maybe I'll join you…"

"I should get this homework done…" Slippy began, looking at the ceiling in thought as if trying to solve a complicated problem. "But I can use a break." Putting down his pencil and calculator, the teenage toad stood up to get ready for the flight.

"Maybe we can hang out at my house?" Fox suggested. "We can probably score a descent meal from my mom."

"Your mom's cooking?" Falco began. "I'm totally in."

* * *

The fly over to the McCloud's residence was less than eventful with most of the ride being silent. Instead, the friends opted to enjoy their air conditioned cockpits with their thoughts, whatever they may be. Upon reaching the large estate of the McClouds, each cadet skillfully maneuvered their aircrafts down on the landing pad which was located in the back of the house. As there wasn't enough room for all the ships, only Fox and Bill were able to put their ships in the hanger on site. The remaining two had to stay put on the landing pad. The four teenagers, in better spirits from the fly and temporarily relieved from the heat, made their way into the house.

"Are you sure your mom will be cool with us dropping by?" Bill asked as Fox keyed in the code to the security system. The security system was over the top, with the code changing frequently. If the door or window was to open without the code put in first, the police would be at the house in less than 30 seconds. Fox, unfortunately, knew first hand that the police were fast when arriving. In a drunken stupor, he had accidently tested the security system.

With a click and beep, the security system accepted the typed in password. Fox gave a shrug. "She'll be fine. She loves to cook for more people."

Pushing the door open, the four friends were greeted with the aroma's of pleasant cooking. It smelled like basil and garlic, which told Fox that they were having pasta that night. The kitchen, which was straight ahead and to the left of the entrance, was bustling with the sounds of boiling water and the movement of pots and pans. There were faint noises from the study that gave evidence of a conversation taking place. Slipping off his shoes, Fox further entered his home.

"Hello?" Fox called into the house. The other three followed suit and slipped their shoes off, slowly trailing behind Fox as he made his way into the kitchen.

Turning the left corner, Fox was greeted with a familiar and happy sight. The kitchen, which was decorated with stainless steel and dark mahogany wood, was spotless clean, contrasting with the bustling activities going on in the room. Fox's mother, Vixxy, had her back turned to the new occupants in the room, preoccupied with kneading dough while watching a flat screen TV monitor that was flush with the wall. The stove top had two pots, each full of boiling water, residing on it. Sending a grin over to his friends, Fox approached his mother silently; careful to make sure he was stealthy and quiet. Draping his hands over her eyes quickly, Vixxy gave an audible suck of air in surprise and a small giggle.

Putting her hands on her hips, she turned her head to the side. "Ok James, knock it off. I have to finish dinner."

Removing his hands from her face, Fox leaned over so she could get a look at him. With squeal of excitement and surprise, she quickly embraced Fox into a hug. "What are you doing here Fox?" She said while laughing with happiness, glancing behind Fox to the three friends lingering in the doorway.

Before Fox could answer, Vixxy broke the embrace and addressed the friends. "Come in, come in. I have plenty of food to go around. I just hope you're all hungry enough."

"Don't worry," Falco began, a wide grin on his face. "That's not a problem."

"Aren't you guys supposed to be at school?" Vixxy asked, returning to the dough.

Fox plopped himself down on a bar stool and began picking at a piece of thread that was loose on his shirt. "It's hotter than hell outside, Mom. And the dorms have zero ventilation."

"Plus," Bill added, taking a seat next to Fox at the bar. "We love your cooking."

"This weather has been trouble for all of us it seems," Vixxy replied, manipulating the dough with her hands.

Falco, who poured himself a glass of soda, turned towards Vixxy. "Your air conditioning taking a hit too?"

"No, nothing like that," Vixxy said, her hands momentarily pausing in mid action. "There's a lot more patients at the hospital."

Vixxy, being a registered nurse, worked at the Cornerian Memoral Hospital in the emergency room. However, because James brought in more than enough money for Vixxy not to work, she was on a volunteer basis, opting not to be paid. She enjoyed her work and felt that she was giving back to the society.

Taking interest in the turn of the conversation, Slippy, who was watching the boiling pots of water walked over to the others. "More patients? Like heat stroke?"

Her eyebrows knit together in concentration, Vixxy shook her head. "No, actually. A lot of colds and nose bleeds. The nose bleeds are common with the dry weather but I'm not sure about the colds."

Slippy, also in thought, shook his head. "Weird. I hope I don't get sick. I take vitamins daily…"

With a slap on his back, Falco laughed at his friend. "With all the pills you take daily, I don't think a single virus will even try to infect you."

Smiling at the friends, Vixxy was about to respond when the swinging door to the kitchen on the other swung open. Three other inhabitants entered the room, already in conversation with one another. The tallest, an older fox, stopped midsentence at the scene in front of him. With a grin slowly creeping across his face, James walked towards his son.

"Fox," the older McCloud said, quickly embracing his son. "What are you doing here? Ditching school already?"

Rolling his eyes, Fox gave his father a look. "What? I can't visit anymore? I'm fifteen and you're already kicking me out?"

"From what I can remember, you're lucky he waited till fifteen," Peppy said with a chuckle, taking a step forward towards the group of friends.

"Oh c'mon Peppy. I thought you were on my side," Fox said with a smile and glanced at the last person in the room, Pigma. "How you doing Pigma?"

Pigma gave a sheepish look at Fox with a grin. "Alright. How's school going for ya?"

Answering the pig with a mutter and shrug, he turned back towards his father. "We're eating dinner here today."

With a roll of his eyes, James slipped behind Vixxy and planted a kiss on her neck. With a shake of her head, she continued working with the dough, which was taking the form of a loaf. James moved over to the refrigerator and grabbed himself a chilled can of soda. "How long till dinner, hon?"

"Soon," Vixxy said, putting the dough in a pan and placing it into the oven. "I have to go back to the hospital after dinner."

James, taking a sip from a soda he just opened, gave Vixxy an exasperated look. "You were there all day, Vix."

"They need me. I can't say no," she responded in her defense.

Slippy and Bill shifted uncomfortably from the ensuing argument about to transfold. Falco shot a look over at Fox, who replied with an impatient sigh. Peppy and Pigma, who seemed to have started a conversation of their own on the other side of the kitchen, failed to hear the adult McClouds arguing.

"Yeah you can," James replied, setting the soda down and pointing at her. "You don't get paid. Let them call some other nurse in."

Shaking her head and looking to the ceiling as if for reassurance, Vixxy moved to the pantry to grab several boxes of noodles. "I just can't, James. I have people who actually rely on me."

"Fine," James began through clenched teeth. "But see if you can get tomorrow off then."

As the female McCloud began to pour the noodles into the pots of boiling water, she huffed out air. She knew that arguing with her husband would prove to be futile. Since she first met James years ago, she knew him to be stubborn and obstinate, with their arguments usually ending in some sort of compromise. It was arguments between Fox and James, however, that always proved to be trying, as neither one was willing to budge. "Alright," she caved. "I'll see what I can do."

Relieved that the argument was obviously over, Slippy felt a breath of air slip past his closed lips that he was unconsciously holding. Bill, also noticing the tension in the room becoming thinner, allowed his demeanor to be less rigid. With his home life being familiar to these arguments on a daily routine, Falco hardly noticed a difference when the argument began and ended. Everyone argued, he felt. It was a way of life.

"So, uh," Fox began, trying to change the subject. "When's dinner going to be ready?"

"Soon," Vixxy replied, almost robotically. Having two males living with her, she was well versed with the question. Giving one last stir at the boiling noodles, the female vulpine opened the oven door to check on the baking bread. "You guys have time to go watch some T.V."

Fox knew what that meant. Rather than asking the four teenagers, she was demanding. Sending a look over to his friends, Fox pushed himself off of the bar stool. James picked up on Vixxy's subtle suggestion and turned towards his wingmates. "Hey guys," James began, breaking into their side conversation. "Mind if we picked this up later?"

Shrugging at their leader, Peppy and Pigma muttered a couple of "no problems" and made their way to the door, sending several quick goodbyes to the remaining inhabitants of the room. Turning towards his wife, he glanced at Fox as if to tell him to hurry up and leave.

"Just, uh, call us when dinner's ready," Fox replied, trailing behind his friends as they made their way out of the kitchen and into the family room adjacent to it. Flopping down on the suede sectional, Falco was quick to snatch the remote controller out of Bill's hand before he had the chance to turn the device on. Sending a disgusted look at Falco, Bill turned towards Fox. "What's up with your parents, dude?"

Looking at the sports channel that Falco decided to watch, Fox gave a silent shrug. "Dunno. They're probably stressed with work or something."

"Your mom did say that there were a lot of patients at the hospital," Slippy helpfully added, taking his concentration away from his phone he was playing with, obviously bored with the sports channel.

"Yeah I guess," Fox replied half heartedly. There was a loud grumbling sound that came from Falco's direction, causing the three friends to look at him quizzically.

Resting a hand on his hungry stomach, Falco looked back at his friends. "I hope they clear up whatever shit they have going on so I can eat."

* * *

"Vixxy," James began, happy to hear the banter of the television in the other room. "I don't want you spending so much time at the hospital anymore."

"I have to," Vixxy replied, stirring the noodles. "With this weird cold going around, the ER gets packed."

"Yeah and that's why I don't want you there. I'm worried about you." James plopped himself down on a bar stool, face never leaving his wife's. Rather than anger, his face was full of concern and longing.

A calm yet sad presence passed over Vixxy's features. Pushing a stray lock of fur out of her eyes, she gave a forced smile at James. "Don't be. I take precautions. This is my job James. We both risk our lives for our jobs, just in different ways."

With long sigh, James made his way over to his wife, placing his hands on her shoulders and looking at her loving face. "It's different with me and you know it. I risk my neck for missions so you don't have too."

With a crooked smile, Vixxy wrapped her arms around James' neck. "Don't lie to me. You risk your life because you like too. It makes you feel tough."

James replied with a sheepish grin. "Maybe." The smile slowly vanished, replaced with concerned scowl. "I'm serious Vix. Until we know for sure what this cold can be, try to not spend so much time there. I don't want to see you getting sick."

Stifling a sigh, Vixxy broke the embrace with her husband to return to the dinner. "I'll talk with administration about getting tomorrow off. Would that make you happy?

James offered her a weak smile. "For the time being, yes. Now how about that dinner?"

* * *

**I hope everyone liked it so far! **

**Please Review!! **


	2. Chapter 2

The early morning sun brought about a serene presence to the beginning of the day. The dew on the grass sparkled as the morning rays reached each one. The moon, moving over in the sky to allow the sun some room, was already fading fast. The bugs had long forgotten their nightly songs with the turning of a new day. Overall, the outside air held a calming atmosphere. On the inside of an academy dorm, however, the early morning was a battle zone for the cadets that were housed in it.

In a particular room, four male cadets trudged around their domain, feet dragging on the floor sleepily. It was nearly 6 o'clock in the morning and none of the teenagers were happy with the notion of having to function that early. Their alarm clocks rudely awakened them only ten minutes earlier, breaking them from their happy slumbers. Now, the four had quickly and routinely made their beds military style, strongly pulling and tucking the corners. The common language exchanges consisted of grunts and moans, all of which could be interpreted by the friends. Grabbing towels, the two out of the four friends made their way to the community showers, which were down the hall in the bathroom.

The floor, which housed fifteen rooms in all, ranging from two to four occupants each, had around fifty cadets total. The cadets had to share a community bathroom and a kitchenette area that was equipped with the basic survival kitchen appliances. From knowing each other for so long, the floor of cadets had formed strong friendships, which many considered brotherhoods.

Trudging down the stained covered carpet in the hall, Fox clutched his terry cloth towel close to him in one arm and swung his shower caddy in the other. Walking next to him, hardly awake, was Falco. Falco also carried the same effects as Fox but with less vigor; his towel dragging on the floor in his weak grip. Muttering a couple of greetings to the other cadets, Fox and Falco entered the bathroom. Inside, the five sink spaces with mirrors were all vacant. The showers, which were a total of six, were half full with steam rising from the occupied showers.

Falco and Fox took two showers that were located next to one another and turned on the hot water. Though the day was already beginning to heat up from the odd weather, the cadets were still slightly chilly from the night and enjoyed the hot water on their bodies. Lathering some shampoo into his fur, Fox began rinsing it out when he heard commotion in the bathroom. Figuring it was more cadets coming and going, he dismissed the noises and continued with the shower. As the vulpine was about to reach for his conditioner, he heard a loud thump above. Looking up to investigate the noise, Fox let out a blood curdling scream. Falling all over him were hundreds of ice cubes, all coated in salt. Yelling out several swears, Fox began to notice that he wasn't the only one screaming. Next to him, he heard a similar string of swears coming out of Falco's mouth. Just as quickly as the ice cube raid began, it ended. With a snarl, Fox ripped his towel off the hook, wrapped it around his waist, and viciously swung the shower curtain to the side to get a view of his attackers. At what he saw made his jaw drop.

Smiling sweetly at the sight of an angry Fox, Fara blew a kiss to him. Next to her were Katt and another girl, Auron, who was a turtle. Each girl was holding an empty blue recycling bin. "What's the matter, Fox?" Fara sweetly asked him, high fiving Auron. By this time, the screams had turned to silence, each boy amazed at the onslaught brought on by the girls.

"You.." Fox began, pointing an accusing finger at her. "You want to start this, then so be it! From now on, it's war!"

Falco, also wearing a towel draped over his waist, shook his head incredibly at Katt. "And we ain't showing you ladies mercy like last year."

With a giggle and grin, Katt patted Falco on the head cooingly. "It's alright babe. We don't need it. There's a lot more where this came from."

From all the commotion, the bathroom had drawn a lot of attention to it. The resident cadets lingered in the door frames, eager to see what the screams were about. After seeing the attack and who it was, they crossed their arms and shook their head disapprovingly. They knew what this meant. With another laugh, the three girls giddily left the bathroom and continued to leave the floor of angry males.

The boys, still confused that they could be taken blind like that, slowly made their way into the bathroom, interested to hear if the victims had anything to say about the attack. Falco, deep in thought, had his face leaned forward, studying the ground. The silence was thick but still held, each cadet waiting for some kind of response.

"Men, the girls have embarrassed us!" Falco began, looking at each of the faces. "We meet tonight to discuss our plans of retaliation. This year, they will not win. They cannot win. This year, we will make them regret stepping onto 12th floor!"

The male cadets broke into cheers and claps, happy that the yearly ritual had begun and their revenge would be sweet. It would be the fourth annual war between the 12th floor boys at Harris Hall and 7th floor girls at Ellsworth Hall. The wars had all broken out in the beginning of the year with the initial attacker always being unknown. The year before, the boys had attacked first. The only difference between the four years was the degree of intensity. When the pranks had first begun, they were harmless, usually consisting of tripping or gum in the fur. As the ages of the cadets increased so did the cruelness of the pranks. Each cadet involved knew that they could no longer trust the other "team" but instead was always kept alert in case of an attack. When a team couldn't take it anymore, they would admit defeat to other team, saying enough was enough. To make amends, the teams would hold a little party for each other so no hard feelings were harbored. To them, it wasn't personal; it was fun.

* * *

"Man, I can't believe they did that," Bill said, taking his seat in the lecture auditorium. Pulling up the small desktop that was kept on the sides of the chairs, he canine continued to prepare for class.

"Yeah tell me about. Really gives the phrase 'being caught with your pants down' a new meaning," Fox replied back to his friend. Falco shook his head at Fox, also unhappy with the morning's proceedings. "I mean, how could we not see that coming?"

Powering up his customized laptop which he engineered himself, Slippy chuckled a little to himself at the vision of the attack. "Yeah… they really got us good. So what are we going to do about it?"

Shoving a pointed finger into the toads face, Falco replied to him sternly. "I'll tell you what we're going to do about it, Toad. We're going to play dirty. They're going to regret doing that little stunt."

A sweet purr could be heard behind Falco. "Aw, what's the matter, still sour over this morning?"

The four boys turned to face the two girls, standing innocently with smiles plastered to their faces. The boys began to shift uneasily, eyes darting to one another as if in conspiracy and unwilling to trust their attackers.

"Us? Sour?" Falco asked sarcastically as the girls moved forward and plopped down in the row in front of the boys. "Yeah right. Just wait till we strike. You won't even be expecting it."

Fara rolled her eyes as she began to prepare for the class. "We're smarter than you guys. We've set up precautions."

Shaking his head at her cryptic message, Fox was unable to send a retort back as he saw the instructor, who was seated at his desk already, be approached by a young female hamster cadet. Fox had gone to school with her for nearly seven years and was fairly good friends with her. Donna was a smart girl, never opting for the military life that her parents desired her to have. Instead, she kept her nose in the books and excelled at sciences, particularly biology and chemistry. Fox had had the honors in the past of being her lab partner and knew she had potential to go far with her studies. This day, however, she looked worse for wear. Wearing baggy sweat pants and an oversized sweatshirt, her fur was disheveled. In her hands she held a box of tissues, one already pulled out, occasionally wiping her nose. Fox, being too many rows away from the instructor's desk, was unable to hear the conversation but could guess what it was about. After a brief exchange of words, Donna handed the instructor her lab notebook then preceded to leave the room. Turning his head in confusion, Fox turned to his other friends, who had begun a conversation already.

"Hey guys," Fox asked, his brows knit together. "What's wrong with Donna?"

"Who?" Falco asked.

Katt rolled her eyes at Falco and turned her attention to Fox, concern and sympathy etched over her facial features. "Poor Donna caught a nasty cold. She was up all night sneezing and finishing the lab report."

"Huh," Fox replied, pulling out his own lab report. "I've never seen Donna sick before, especially for organic chemistry."

"Yeah," Bill started, paging through his half-finished lab report. Chemistry was never one of his strong points. "I wish I would get a cold. Then I wouldn't have to hand in half assed assignments."

"This report was hard," Fara said, also looking at her half way completed work. "I even went to the study group for it."

Katt gave her vulpine friend a cunning grin. "You just went to the study group so you could see Luke Browlisk."

Fox groaned and rolled his eyes at the females. Feeling blood rush to her cheeks at the mention of her crushes name, Fara smiled sheepishly. "Well... it just so happens…"

"Anyways," Falco interrupted, turning to his male comrades in a whisper. "When are we attacking?"

Fox had to force himself to tear his gaze away from the gossiping female teenagers. In the young McCloud's eyes, Fara Phoenix was the most beautiful thing that walked in the Lylat System. He adored the ground she walked on and would go anywhere for her. He was also aware, however, that she didn't return the feelings for Fox, which made things difficult. Instead of a dating relationship, they had fallen into a teasing game. Fox still chased her as any teenage boy would but with limits. As a gentleman, he valued his friendship with her highly and didn't wish to compromise that.

"I think we need to act fast," Bill whispered back. "They need to know that we mean business and can't be pushed around."

Falco nodded in thought. "Couldn't agree with you more, Grey."

Smiling to himself, Fox shook his head. Like the past three years, the annual war always brought out the military man in Falco. Relying on strategy and knowledge, Falco would transform into a soldier, taking every attack as a major hit to their team. Worst of all, the avian would begin barking orders to the fellow cadets on the 12th floor. Oddly enough, however, not many cadets minded Falco's orders. It was well known that Falco and Fox were the leaders of the war with the females.

"But what can we do?" Fox asked Falco, being sure to keep his voice low.

"Bleach in the shampoo?" Falco offered, his eyes searching Fox's face to approval.

"Naw," Bill answered, shaking his head in disapproval. "We did that last year. What about plastic wrap on the toilet?"

Fox furrowed his brows together, frowning. "No. The cleaning droids will see it."

"Hm…" Falco wondered, also deep in thought.

Shooting his head up, Fox had gotten a genius idea. Eyes wide with anticipation, he pulled his friends in closer to his face to whisper his plan to them, in case of eavesdroppers. Falco, in approval for his friends idea, smirked and nodded at him.

"Good job, McCloud," Falco began, glancing over at the girls to make sure they were still gossiping about Luke-whatever-his-name-was. "It's not drastic but it'll get the job done."

The instructor, lifting his head to look at the digital clock hanging on the wall, stood up to begin lecturing the class. Professor Quintal was a opossum in his late 50's with gray fur beginning to spread on the top of his head. The thick glasses that he wore were resting on his lower snout causing him to lean his head back to get a good look through them. One of the kinder instructors, he often allowed extensions and aided confused students. While Fox wasn't as nearly as interested in chemistry as he was with aviations, he still enjoyed Prof. Quintal. The instructor moved his way to the front of the class room with his small portable laptop and began to take roll. Most of the students enrolled in the class were present with a handful being absent. It wasn't illogical to reason that the missing students chose to miss class because they didn't get their labs done. However, Fox pondered, with the stack of three or four lab books already on Quintal's desk, perhaps those absent students were actually sick and not just playing hooky.

* * *

"Fara, your fur is so pretty," Katt said to her roommate as she proceeded to brush the strawberry blond fur on the top of her head.

It was late on the 7th floor at Elllsworth Hall, with the majority of the girls already in their rooms preparing for bed. In this particular room, the friends were completing their nightly grooming rituals which could range in time. The room had once belonged to three girls but after the first week of classes, one of the girls ended up transferring to a different hall to be closer to friends. This left Katt and Fara to enjoy the comforts of the oversized room to themselves. The room was to the same dimensions and layout as their male friends in Harris Hall, however the decorations and cleanliness differed quite a bit. Instead of the drab dark hues that the boys opted for, the girl's room had cheerful colors, such as yellows, pinks, and purples. The floor wasn't littered with remnants of a party or the unhealthy collection of dirty undergarments. Instead, there was a large purple area rug on the floor, neatly vacuumed.

"Thanks," Fara said over her shoulder from her sitting position at her desk. "When do you think the boys will strike?"

Pulling back the comforter from her pristinely made bed, Katt delicately placed herself on the bed, drawing up the sheets and comforter. "Knowing them, probably soon. They can't handle their pride being hurt."

With a smirk, Fara placed the hair brush down and turned completely towards her friend. "You mean Falco can't handle it."

Katt fluffed up her two pillows in an attempt to become more comfortable. The young feline turned to Fara with a sparkle in her eye. "Well, Fox can't either."

Annoyed with the indication her friend was implying, Fara turned away and proceeded to shut down her open laptop. "Well, he can at least suck it up more than Falco can." _Why am I sticking up for him? _She wondered.

Katt flopped on her back. "Either way, their retaliation is going to be quick so we should get ready."

Walking over to her own bed, Fara pulled the blankets down. "The security guard on duty knows to call me immediately if he sees them even come close to this building. "

Stifling a yawn, Katt reached up to turn off the light while waiting for her friend to become situated in bed. "That's good. We should be set then. We're so winning this year."

With a switch of fingers, the room became bathed in darkness and the subtle glow of the moon through the windows. Fara turned towards her friend. "Agreed."

About to respond, Katt was cut off by a tingle in her throat. Coughing not once, twice, but three times, she was finally able to cease the tickle. Fara propped herself up on her arm. "You ok?"

Katt, wiping away some saliva that was left on her chin, she smiled futilely at her friend in the darkness. "Yeah, I'm just catching a cold."

It was still dark outside when Fara was awoken by the sounds of screams coming from the hall. Lifting her head up fast from the pillow, she ran her gaze over the room, checking for anything out of place that could pose a danger. With a sigh of relief, she turned her head over across the darkened room to her roommate, Katt. Katt was already awake, sitting motionless on her bed, still under the blankets. The young felines head was facing the door, her ears perked up at the muffled pleas for help. Fara, still groggy from being woken up, glanced at her clock to see it was 5:30 in the morning. Katt noticed the movement from across the silent dorm room and whipped her head over to investigate.

"Fara?" Katt asked in a struggled whisper, the sound of sleep still evident in her voice.

"Yeah," Fara answered, also having a groggy voice. "What's going on?"

Katt shook her head at the question. "Not sure. I woke up a couple minutes ago."

Pushing back the blankets, Fara unconsciously drew in a breath of air as the coldness hit her. Her bare feet slowly dragged against the tiled floor, sending chills up her spine. She was silently thankful when she reached the area rug, granting her a small favor from the cold floor. Katt, taking notice to Fara's advance towards the door, switched on the lights causing both residents to squint in retaliation. Katt sent Fara an apologetic look on her face and began to wipe the sleep from her eyes. The cries for help had quieted down but the sounds of talking were still lingering in the hall. Fara resumed her walk to the door to investigate the cause of the commotion. Pulling open the door, she gasped in surprise at what she saw. Instead of the normal view from the doorway into the hall, she was presented with a view of metallics of all different colors. Stepping back in horror, she turned towards Katt.

"I'm going to kill them," the young fox called over to her roommate, pointing to the wall of soda cans blocking their way into the hall. Katt leaned forward from her place on her bed to get a better view of the barricade. Upon spotting it, she released an audible moan and jumped off the bed to get a closer look.

Fingering a row of cans, Katt turned towards Fara. "You've got to be kidding me. They must have been up all night doing this."

"Fara? Katt? Is that you?" The two roommates heard from across the hall. They were unable to spot the cadet who was calling to them but recognized the voice.

"Auron? Yeah, it's us," Fara answered. "Are you blocked in too?"

"Yep," the young turtle replied. "And it sounds like the whole floor was. I hope you two have come up with a good plan to get back at those idiots."

"Ya," a new voice next door called. "'Tis gonna take me ages to get ought."

The new voice belonged to Kia Johniison, a transfer student from Katina. Kia, a coyote, was a very bright cadet who was following the curriculum to become a medic for the military. Both her parents practicing physicians, she longed to also be familiar with the medical field which she believed was her calling. She transferred to the academy only nine months earlier due to her father being stationed in Corneria City.

"Ugh…" Fara moaned, holding her head in her paws. "We're going to be pulling cans off for hours."

With a fierce tug and groan, Katt ripped a can free from the duct tape that held it in place. Expecting to see the hallway where the can was, the females were instead disappointed with duct tape.

"It gets worse," Fara called out to the other cadets trapped in their rooms. "They duct taped the whole door in."

With a sigh, Katt move towards her night stand to retrieve her combat knife. She returned to the canned in doorway, her roommate already pulling and tugging on several cans.

Tossing a freed can over her shoulder, Fara turned to Katt with a tired look. "This is going to be a long night."

* * *

The night shift at Cornerian Memorial Hospital was used to the bustling life in the emergency room. Like a restaurant on a Friday night, a wait list for an examination room was always expected. Being expedited to the top of the list was reserved for the most serious of patients, while those with benign ailments were forced to wait for several hours at a time. Serious patients were classified as either bleeding profusely, in an unconscious state, or holding their own appendage. The hospital was located in the more downtown area, causing the patient levels to be high. On this particular night, however, the types of patients were rather different.

"McCloud! We got another wave coming in!"

The female vulpine, looking frazzled from the nights proceedings, was already taking blood pressure from a patient she had just taken in. The patient was a young roadrunner who passed out at a company meeting. He claimed he felt fine but company policy forced him to get checked out. With the intensity of the heat from the odd weather, Vixxy believed he most likely passed out due to heat exhaustion. While she felt that he was taking up a precious bed that could be reserved for other dire patients, she was compelled to complete her job.

Vixxy turned her head to the head nurse at the central nursing station, who also looked worse for wear. She was a middle aged squirrel. In her hand, she held a large clipboard with many names scribbled. The vulpine knew that was their long check in list for the incoming patients. She was also aware that they would all have to be checked with as soon as possible. "I'm already with a patient," Vixxy called out, recording down the blood pressure.

The head nurse impatiently shook her head and dropped the clip board on the desk. "You're going to have to work faster. We have more important patients." Stopping in mid thought, the squirrel looked down at the clip board. "After you're done with that one, go to curtain seven."

With a big sigh, Vixxy frowned with a nod. The roadrunner was patient with her, conducting all the necessary tests she asked him to do. Upon completing everything she was able to do, Vixxy told the man that a doctor would be with him soon. She knew, with the intensity of the patient load that night, it was a blatant lie. It would take at least 20 minutes for a doctor to even look at his vitals. Pushing a stray lock of hair from her eyes, she moved over to curtain seven. Grabbing the patients file clipped to a board, Vixxy quickly eyed it over. The patient was a twelve year old female giraffe, had a cold for a week, frequent nose bleeds, and severe stomach pains. Vixxy stifled a sigh. This was the fifth one that night. The cold going around was becoming a known nuisance, filling up the emergency room and wasting beds. The vulpine nurse was sure that the girl only had the cold and perhaps the stomach bug. At her age of twelve, the stomach bug was a common sickness to catch once school started.

Vixxy stepped into the curtained off section where a little female giraffe sat on a hospital bed. Next to her was who Vixxy assumed to be her mother, a giraffe also. Her mother's features showed concern for her daughter. It was late and Vixxy could only guess, due to the pajama pants, that the girl was awoken from her sleep before she was brought to the hospital. Having a child of her own, Vixxy could relate to the mother being overly worried for her sick daughter, even if it was just a stomach bug. Sending a warm smile to the mother, Vixxy then directed her attention to her young patient. "Hi, my name is Vixxy. I'm a nurse. I heard you haven't been feeling well."

Looking at her mother reassuring, who gave her a nod to continue, the young giraffe nodded. "My stomach hurts."

Wrapping the blood pressure sphygmomanometer cuff around the young giraffes arm, Vixxy gave a small smile to her. "When did it start hurting?"

Wincing as cuff began to inflate, the girl gave a shrug. "I dunno. A little while ago. I was sleeping."

Writing down the results of the test, Vixxy took off the cuff. "What kind of pain? A sharp or dull pain?"

Confused with the question, the girl gave a worried glance at her mother, not sure how to answer the question. "I'm… I'm not sure."

The mother, before Vixxy would ask another question, stepped forward. "Look, she's been sick for a while. She's had this horrid cold where she's always coughing stuff up and sneezing. Then, there's these nose bleeds. I mean, I know kids get nose bleeds all the time, but, three in one week?" The mother shook her head at the thought. "I'm starting to get a bit worried."

Keeping her eyes transfixed on the mother, Vixxy allowed the mothers words to settle with her. This wasn't the first parent she heard this speech from. While it wasn't the same spiel, it was in similar fashion. Breaking her gaze from the mother to jot down the information, Vixxy absently responded. "I'll tell the doctor when he gets here. Let's get a temperature." Vixxy pulled out a digital thermometer, placing a plastic covering over the top. "Ok, sweetie, open up." The giraffe gingerly opened her mouth, lifting her tongue to place the device under.

Allowing that to begin reading, Vixxy turned towards the mother. "How long would the nose bleeds last?"

Staring absently at the ground in concentration, the mother burrowed her brows in thought. "Um… probably around fifteen-twenty minutes. They were terrible. There was so much blood. We thought that with the dry weather, it was because of that. But now, we're not so sure…" her voice lingered off.

Vixxy, pulling the thermometer out after its abrupt alarm to signal the test was complete, jotted down the results. "No temperature." She scribbled down what the mother told her. "Are you allergic to any medicines?"

Before the mother or daughter could answer, the daughter's face contorted into pain. Bringing her arms down over her lower abdomen, she gave out a weak moan. Falling back against the bed, the giraffe scrunched her body up in the fetal position, moans turning into shrieks of pain.

Vixxy, a trained professional, sprung to her feet and briskly reached the young giraffe in pain. The mother followed suit, panicking for her daughters well being. "Honey, what's wrong?" Turning towards Vixxy, she directed her question at the vulpine, only more sternly. "What's wrong with her?! Get some help?!"

Grabbing a long switch board next to the bed, Vixxy repeatedly pressed a button signaling for help. Turning towards the girl, who was still wiggling in pain, she noticed a red substance beginning to form on the pillow next to her face. Moving forward with swiftness, Vixxy turned the giraffes face to see a long, thick stream of blood resonating from her nose. The giraffe gave out a bellow of a scream. Vixxy, unable to wait any longer, moved forward to begin investigating the source of the pain. Pulling up the bottom of the young girl's shirt, Vixxy widened her eyes at the sight in front of her. On the right side of her lower abdomen was a dark bruise that was the size of a basketball. "Oh my god…" Vixxy whispered, swiftly pulling open the curtain to yell across the emergency room for help. "I need a doctor. Her liver is failing!"

This gained the attention of all the doctors in the room. Those of which were preoccupied with patients in fatal situations kept their attention at the task at hand. Those who weren't came running towards the trio. The mother giraffe at this point was near hysteria and another nurse calming pulled her away from the scene against her wishes.

"What happened here?" a doctor asked Vixxy as he made his way to the withering giraffe. Before Vixxy could give an answer, the giraffe all of a sudden ceased moving and lay still, rivers of blood making their way down her face. The doctors, surprised with the sudden stillness, momentarily paused in their actions. A long, straight tone brought them out of their stunned state, causing them all to rush their actions.

One doctor turned towards the head nurse, yelling. "She's crashing. We need a crash cart!"

Moving over to allow the doctors to begin resuscitating the young giraffe to no avail, Vixxy found her chest beginning to constrict. What she thought to be a routine patient had turned her night into a horrid nightmare.


End file.
